Category Archives: Space Exploration

Moscow Russia and China unveiled plans on Tuesday for a joint lunar space station, as Moscow seeks to recapture the glory of its space pioneering days of Soviet times, and Beijing gears up its own extraterrestrial ambitions.

Though Moscow was once at the forefront of space travel it sent the first man into space its cosmic ambitions have dimmed thanks to poor financing and endemic corruption.

It has been eclipsed by China and the United States, which have both clocked major wins in space exploration and research in recent years.

The Russian space agency Roscomos said in a statement that it had signed an agreement with Chinas National Space Administration (CNSA) to develop a complex of experimental research facilities created on the surface and/or in the orbit of the Moon.

The CNSA, for its part, said that the project was open to all interested countries and international partners in what experts said would be Chinas biggest international space cooperation project to date.

Moscow is seeking to re-take the lead in the space race.

This year, it celebrates the 60th anniversary of Russias first-ever manned space flight it sent Yuri Gagarin into space in April 1961, followed by the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova, two years later.

The United States NASA space agency launched its first manned space flight a month after Russia, in May 1961, sending Alan Shepard up aboard Mercury-Redstone 3.

But Moscow has lagged behind both Washington and Beijing in the exploration of the Moon and Mars in recent years.

In the meantime, China which has sought a closer partnership with Moscow has started a successful space program of its own.

Last year, it launched its Tianwen-1 probe to Mars that is currently orbiting the red planet.

And in December, it successfully brought rock and soil samples from the Moon back to Earth, the first mission of this type in over 40 years.

Chen Lan, an independent analyst specializing in Chinas space program, said the joint lunar space station was a big deal.

This will be the largest international space cooperation project for China, so its significant, Lan said.

Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin wrote on Twitter that he had invited CNSA chief Zhang Kejian to the launch of Russias first modern lunar lander, Luna 25, scheduled for Oct. 1 the first lunar lander to be launched by Russia since 1976.

The U.S. space agency NASA has now set its sights on Mars, with its Perseverance rovers last week conducting their first test drive on the planet.

NASA eventually intends to conduct a possible human mission to the planet, even if planning is still at a very preliminary stage.

Moscow and Washington are also collaborating in the space sector one of the few areas of cooperation left between the Cold War rivals.

However, Russia did not sign the U.S.-led Artemis Accord last year for countries that want to participate in a lunar exploration scheme spearheaded by NASA.

Under the Artemis program announced during the tenure of former U.S. President Donald Trump, NASA plans to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024.

In another blow to Russias space reputation, Roscosmos last year lost its monopoly for manned flights to the International Space Station (ISS) after the first successful mission of the U.S. company Space X.

Elon Musks SpaceX has become a key player in the modern space race and has announced plans to fly several members of the public to the Moon in 2023 on a trip bankrolled by a Japanese millionaire.

A SpaceX Starship prototype exploded after landing in Texas in March,after climbing to an altitude of 10 kilometers. The test flight was part of the companys ambitious project to take people to Mars.

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China and Russia to launch lunar space station - The Japan Times

The Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest revealed its winners for 2020, and the photos are astounding. Taken all around the world, they highlight fish, other aquatic species and plants found in sanctuaries and the open ocean.

My particular favorite is Johan Sundelins Waiting for the Kiss, which shows a grumpy-looking toad sitting on a bright pink underwater plant.

The photos are a treat to look through. But like any underwater content, I am always left with the sense that were missing something, that theres more to be seen or discovered. Some of the photos show animals in front of a black background, except its not just a background. It is the ocean the pitch black ocean.

Thats kind of spooky, right?

These animals exist at a depth that we cannot even see through without a flash from the camera or an external light source. Yet, this is what most of the ocean looks like.

Over 80% of it is unexplored. Weve reached nearly every land-point on Earth and even explored parts of outer space, but the oceans depths are largely unknown.

This largely stems from the sheer difficulty of exploring most of the ocean.

The underwater pressure is the biggest challenge. The average depth for the ocean is about 2.3 miles, and that far down, the pressure is about 25,000 pounds per square inch. No human is fit to withstand that amount of pressure, and most submarines are not either. There are, however, certain water crafts that are specifically designed to travel at that depth and pressure.

A visual example is the opening minutes of James Camerons 1997 blockbuster Titanic. The film opens with a submarine expedition, and some of the footage comes from Camerons actual visit to the wreck filmed two years prior.

The deepest spot of the ocean, Challenger Deep, located in the Mariana Trench, is about 36,200 feet. The Titanic ruins are a measly 12,500 feet in comparison, and Mount Everest, its height going in the opposite direction, is 29,032 feet.

Beyond the difficult terrain, deep ocean dives are expensive.

Triton submarines, a Florida-based company, was working on a $48.2 million sub that could return to Challenger Deep. Only three have made the journey, two explorers in 1960 and Cameron in 2012.

Its a dangerous, expensive and time-consuming trip. So is it worth it?

To learn about our planet, yes, it is.

Ocean exploration strikes at two of my main fears: water and small spaces. But Im not the one doing the dives. Discovering the ocean is just as important and worthwhile as space exploration or any other form of study.

Exploration is also crucial given the effects of climate change and humanitys negative behavior toward ocean preservation.

The ocean absorbs heat, leading to increased temperatures in the waters, then resulting in melting ice, tropical storms and current changes. The ocean also absorbs excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and an abundance of the gas will change the chemical base of the water. Certain species and plants and, on a larger scale, entire ecosystems will be at risk.

Trash and some recyclables pollute the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a devastating reality of our disregard for the oceans health. From this and other waste, animals and water habitats are in danger and frequently harmed. Weve seen the detrimental results of oil spills, both on the waters cleanliness and the animals living in the area. On top of that, industries like whaling and fishing can drastically change ecosystems. Overfishing depletes wildlife populations.

All of these examples are changing the ocean. We already know so little. We dont know what were missing with each day that passes.

Ocean exploration may be expensive and deep dives may occur once every few years, but if they can provide any extra information about the ocean, they are worth it. We can learn how to protect and preserve Earths most abundant area.

The Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest is proof of the beauty in water environments. The animals depicted are worth protecting, and the ocean is worth studying. We can continue to study our planet, in tandem with land and space exploration. The oceans depths have so much to offer. Who knows what well find on the surface or at the pitch-black bottom?

Maddie Peters can be reached at pete9542@stthomas.edu.

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OPINION: The unexplored ocean depths should be discovered and protected - Tommie Media

Recent headlines aside, NASAs most exciting interplanetary mission for the early 21st century is arguably not a robot named Perseverance presently roving around Mars gathering samples for a future return to Earth. Instead it is a spacecraft, just now on the verge of being built, that could launch later this decade to Europa, an enigmatic moon of Jupiter that boasts an enormous oceanbigger than all of Earths oceans combinedbeneath an icy crust. Called Europa Clipper, the mission could lift off as soon as 2024 to study the moons subsurface abyss with the goal of gauging its potential habitability and the distinct possibility of discovering a second genesis there. Many astrobiologists consider Mars to be a prime target for seeking out signs of ancient, now extinct extraterrestrial life because of its relatively Earth-like conditions billions of years ago. Europa, by contrast, has never really been like Earth at all, but it still may offer the solar systems best prospects for harboring alien organisms that are alive right now.

That makes the central narrative of David W. Browns new book The Mission: A True Story all the more intriguing. Despite the overwhelming scientific and popular appeal of sending a spacecraft to look for life within Jupiters watery moon, the quest to make Europa Clipper a reality has been a decades-long uphill battle. The fact that the mission became NASAs next great planetary-science projectand that it even exists at allis a triumph over what, at times, seemed to be insurmountably long odds. Brown, a Louisiana-based journalist, spent several years following the key scientists, engineers, bureaucrats and politicians behind the mission. The result is a definitive account of Europa Clippers inceptionand of the often heroic and sometimes tragic human struggles behind each and every robotic emissary sent voyaging to worlds beyond.

Scientific American spoke with Brown about his book, Europa Clippers long journey to the launchpad, the reason Mars is the Death Star of planetary science, and more.

[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]

First off, I want to commend you: Ive followed this topic for years, but I still learned an enormous amount by reading your book. By focusing on the people and the politics behind Europa Clipper, youve revealed the many other dimensions outside of science that must come together to make interplanetary exploration happen. I think theres an enduring value to your work here, in a historical sense, that goes beyond just telling a good story.

Im humbled. Thank you very much.

Youre welcome! What Im getting at is that one could say The Mission is not really about going to Europa at all because youve written and published it well before the spacecraft even reaches the launchpad. What would you say its about?

Thematically, this book is about how different people handle crossroads in their lives. Each of the characters, early on in his or her career, has some moment, some decision point, where things could have gone either way.

Consider the case of Louise Prockter, for example, who is now chief scientist of the Space Exploration Sector at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and was a crucial early contributor to Europa Clipper. She didnt travel through the typical grade-school-to-college-degree pipeline that most people in the field did. She was an adult with a career when she decided to make a life change and pursue a university degree. And she would go on to become one of the most important researchers in all of planetary science. Bob Pappalardo, the project scientist of Europa Clipper, throughout his career, could have, at any time, put the Europa project asideit would have been the smarter move, professionally. But something in his character wouldn't allow him to do that. He had to get a mission flying. At NASA headquarters, Curt Nieburs job as a program scientist in the planetary science division would have been so much easier if he had just marked a clean line across Europa in his portfolio and said, Next, but he didnt. And this goes down the line for every character in the book.

It also applies more broadly to NASA and even the field of planetary science as a whole. Institutions and communities have had to make hard decisions in terms of exploration priorities and how to handle the perennial financial maladies that come from pursuing pure science. All of these things, and many more, ultimately came together to yield admission to Europa. Any single element that had gone the other way might have derailed the entire project.

What inspired you to approach this subject in the first place?

The initial spark of a book emerged from a realization that after New Horizons flew by Pluto and after the planned conclusions of the Cassini mission at Saturn and the Juno mission at Jupiter, humankind would not have any active spacecraft exploring planets beyond the asteroid belt. The outer solar system would go dark for the first time since the 1970s.

Humanity was going to lose something important when that happened. And it bothered me a lotas an American, as a human being who sees our possible future on other worlds and as someone interested in science. You know, other than war, it sometimes seems like space exploration is the only sort of human endeavor where the pronoun used is always we: We go to war. We landed on the moon. And whenever that endeavor is diminished, I think its a loss for all of us.

At the time, Europa exploration was not much more than a series of studies. But it was obvious to me and so many others that it was our best hope for rekindling exploration of the outer planetsto say nothing of its implications. I mean, as a storyteller, youre always on the lookout for high-stakes narratives. And certainly, if, in fact, life is one day found in the oceans of Europaand conceivably complex lifeI mean, that would have implications for science, philosophy, religion and of course geopolitical priorities. It would be a galvanizing moment in human history. And I hoped desperately that there was a story there.

The first person I spoke with was Louise Prockter, who told me she had 15 minutes to talk. And I said, That's great. That's all I need. Three hours into the 15-minute conversation, I realized that after a decade of her working on one Europa study after another, this was probably the first time she had really opened up with any journalist about this amazing thing she was a part of and that had become a part of her.

And that seemed true for everyone who was part of the Europa mission. They fought in the trenches for so long to get this thing going. The more people I spoke with, the more I learned about the struggles and the setbacks, the heartaches and the loss, and the sheer adventure of it all. I fell in love with everybody in this book and with Europa. And, really, I fell in love with the whole field of planetary science.

I recall talking to you a little about this book a few years ago, and at the time, the tentative title was One Inch from Earth. Now, of course, its The Mission (with a beautiful and elaborate subtitle). But as much as I love its current form, Im a bit disappointed I never got to learn the meaning of the books original title. What was that about?

I was attending an early test of the engines that are going to go into NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which was originally intended to send this spacecraft to Europa. Todd May, who was, at the time, head of the SLS program, gave a brief talk about the process of bringing the rocketor a missionto the launchpad. And he said that flying a spacecraft three billion miles is easy. Its getting it one inch off the launchpad thats hard. And hed meant that both on a technical level but also programmatically. It is very difficult to get these missions going, and I think most people dont realize that.

I remember when New Horizons flew by Pluto, I was telling a friend about how exciting it was, and she said, Why did they even go to Pluto? Its not even a planet anymore! And it impressed upon me the impoverished understanding that many people have about these sorts of missions. A lot of people seem to think a spacecraft is built in a matter of months, and then a rocket launches, and then the spacecraft just gets where its going in a few weeksalmost as if NASA had just pulled a spacecraft off the shelf and fired it at Pluto. If all you noticed was the final approach and flyby, it would have seemed like a quick and easy thing, when, in fact, it took more than a decade to get that mission approved and nine years of flight time to reach Pluto. I mean, these are projects that can take entire careers and sometimes entire lifetimes.

Theres obviously a direct connection to Europa, too. The phrase One inch from Earth, to me, was evocative not only of the programmatic struggles of interplanetary exploration but also of the notion that complex life might exist just two planets over on this creepy little moon orbiting this weird giant ball of hydrogen. If life can get started there, that probably means life in the universe isnt like a single cactus in the desert. Its more like a blade of grass in a meadow. Its going to be everywhere. And the idea of this cosmic discovery being so close to Earth really resonated with me, and it resonates within that phrase.

What most surprised you when you started writing this book?

What most surprised me was that I didnt know anything about the subject! I went into this thing, early on, feeling like I had a solid grip on the field of planetary science, how NASA works, how the scientific process works and the sorts of people who do this sort of work. But it struck me on almost the first day that I was clueless.

I remember the first time, several years ago, that I attended the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference near Houston, Tex. I went in ready to get all these amazing stories and learn all these spectacular things. But the science seemed as dense as a neutron star. I didnt know anything. I almost broke down in tears. It was bad! But it was liberating in a way, because as soon as I realized how little I knew, I was able to approach the subject with a total beginners mind and with a sense of wonder that I want the reader to experience, too. So I set a rule from the outset, which was that this book would have zero cynicism and irony. And I think I accomplished that goal.

You describe in the book the antagonistic relationship between Mars-focused folks and many others in planetary science, in which the Mars communitys success in lining up missions comes at the expense of other targets for otherworldly exploration. It seems like the power of the Mars contingent is a force that has shaped NASAs entire planetary science division and really the whole field itself. Is that still the case?

I like to say that Mars is like the Death Star from Star Wars. Because at any given moment, it could destroy plans for any of the planets or moons under consideration for exploration. The Mars community has always been astoundingly good at that on a program levelmaintaining a logical, carefully planned series of missions that all progressively lead to answering some high-impact science questions. But they are benefiting from another natural, built-in advantage: NASA is first and foremost a human spaceflight organization, and the agency wants to send astronauts to Mars. Astronauts are never going to land on Europanot outside of science fiction, anyway. Astronauts are never going to land on Titan, and theyre never going to land on Venus. But theyre going to land on Mars someday. And because of that, theres an urgency to understand Mars in a way that doesnt exist for the outer planets.

All things being equal, though, if given the choice, I think NASA as an organization would still prefer to go to Marsthat was certainly true during the darkest days of the efforts to send something to Europa.

What were the darkest days, exactly?

Probably when Mars Sample Return got the highest recommendation for a flagship mission in the last Planetary Science Decadal Survey [a planning effort that provides recommendations to NASA and other government agencies for major science priorities every 10 years]. Its difficult to overstate how much of a blow that was to the heroes of the book. If not for the intervention of Congressand particularly John Culberson, who was a Republican representative from TexasEuropa Clipper probably wouldnt have happened at all. Culberson wanted NASA to go to Europa because he thought finding life there could be a unifying force for the agencyincreasing the chances it would regain the sort of funding and spirit it had during the Apollo era. And Culberson made it happen.

So, with NASAs Mars fever in mind, are things getting more equitable in planetary exploration in terms of destinations and priorities?

Going into the next Decadal Survey, the relevant Mars-focused expert working groups are not recommending any flagship mission beyond sample return, which is the required next step after Perseverance caches its samples. (Another mission will be needed to actually pick them up and launch them back to here.) The Mars community apparently wants small missions going forwardto study the Martian subsurface and any deposits of water ice, and so on. That creates an opening for other bodies in the solar system to have their moment.

My suspicion is that a sample-cache-return craft is going to fly to Mars regardless of what the next Decadal endorses. That might be heretical to say aloud, but I think that were just too close to achieving this thing that scientists have been seeking since the 1980s. Were not going to let those sample tubes sit on Mars for another 20 years. Because NASA and Congress seem amenable to getting an outer-planets flagship flying, I think well start seeing dual flagships fly every decade. But I might be entirely wrong about this, and the next 20 years could be the new Dark Ages for interplanetary exploration.

When I first started writing this book, the realm of the outer planets was one of nothing but woe and sorrow. But now I get a sense of optimism that wasnt there before. A lot of it is because Europa Clipper was eventually approved and because things such as Dragonfly, a plutonium-powered quadcopter planned to launch to Titan in the late 2020s, are not only going to explore another body but are going to do so with panache. When you have these sorts of audacious strides to places that are just incredibly compelling, I think it has sort of a halo effect for the broader community.

I hope youre right. Lets talk a bit about where the book endsor rather the current status of the mission itself because, as you know very well, Europa Clipper is still not entirely built. The SLS rocket that was originally planned to launch it is not flying yet. Culberson, the Europa programs champion on Capitol Hill, lost in the 2018 election and is no longer in Congress. And were still waiting to see what the new Biden administration will want to do with NASA.

I knew, while writing this book, that I would be chasing a moving target. I mean, for example, I would still be writing the book if I had to keep updating the status of the SLS, which, for most of the projects history, was its notional ride to space. So I chose to end the story in 2015, when Europa Clipper officially became the flagship planetary science mission of the American space program. You dont need the clichd final scene with a rocket launch because thats nothing next to the epic struggle to make the mission real.

The Mission is in many ways a heist story. A group of smart people, each with different talents and connections, came together to achieve a common goal. Its like Oceans Eleven, but instead of robbing a casino in the end, they get a spaceship called Europa Clipper.

In terms of where Europa Clipper is right now, they have completed their critical design review and will now begin building their spacecraft in force. Youll soon be able to go to NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology and see this thing going from PowerPoint to realityunder construction in High Bay 1, a clean room where spacecraft are built.

Already, smaller elements are in development. For example, you can see the wiring harnessthe actual wiring thats going to fly to Jupiterin a clean room at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins. The missions scientific instruments are well into development. There are actual parts and pieces that you can see now for a spaceship that is actually going to fly to what may be the most likely place in the solar system, aside from Earth, to harbor life. And its thrilling to see how meticulous the process ishow many little things go into creating this giant thing.

When Europa Clipper is finished, the spacecraft is going to have the wingspan of a basketball court. But right now, its at a human scale, you know, of people twisting wires and bending metal. And that, to me, is deeply moving. Theyre doing some hard engineering right now, too. And as they do this hard engineering, the science is moving on. Were learning more about how plumes of water might be venting out of Europas subsurface seas, where theyre coming from, how the overlying ice behaves. NASAs Juno spacecraft, presently at Jupiter, just had its mission extended to do flybys of some of the planets icy satellites. So were going to be getting more data that hopefully help to shape the mission.

So is Europa Clipper out of the woods yet?

I think it would take a major crisis at NASA to actually shut the mission down, so its probably going to fly one way or another. So from that point of view, yes, its out of the woods. Now, in terms of the hard technical decisions that still need to be made and the financial elements that need to come together in the years ahead to keep the project on track, Im less sanguine. Will Europa Clipper have enough money to fly, for example, the wide-angle camera? I dont know. I hope it will, but it has already lost instruments along its long path to the launchpad. So its almost certainly going to fly. But what it looks like when it flies is still a little hazy.

In terms of the broader Europa exploration sequence, my Magic 8 Ball is much less optimistic. When John Culberson lost his election, Europa Lander, the follow-on mission in development, lost its greatest political champion and appropriator of funding. Europa Lander is important because Europa Clipper is probably not going to find life. It is studying Europas habitability and will help determine where life most likely might exist on the ocean world. It will take a lander to set down on the surface and dig or drill or melt into it, looking for evidence of things that once wiggled. Its an extraordinary mission and precisely the sort of dare mighty things project for which JPL is famous. More than $100 million has been spent on it, but work has now essentially stopped. If the lander gets an endorsement by the Decadal Survey, I have a feeling that work would resume immediately and that it would launch only a couple of years behind schedule. But that endorsement is a big if.

What are you working on now? Might it be another book?

Yeah, a book about an adventurous team of scientists who have been doing pioneering work in Antarctica studying rapid sea-level rise. Ive already been on one expedition down there with them. Its not a sequel, of course, but there is a lovely connection to The Mission because some of the worlds foremost experts on Earths cryosphere are also interested in Europa. Some people study Antarctica so they can understand Europa. Its certainly easier to get to, anyway!

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Meet the Unsung Heroes behind Humanity's Improbable Journey to an Alien Ocean - Scientific American

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Enzychem Lifesciences (KOSDAQ: 183490), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines to improve the lives of patients with cancer and inflammatory diseases, today announced that an Enzychem Lifesciences representative will be participating as a panelist at the 15th New York Health Forum, which will beheld virtually on Tuesday, March 16.

The New York Health Forum brings together industry experts from the life sciences, research, investment community, healthcare policy, and other providers, to advance the development of healthcare innovation.

This 15th forum is designed to hear insights from leaders who lead the way to accelerate progress against space radiation and other space related health threats, the area which are important but not frequently discussed in the arena of space exploration.

Dr. Ji Sun Park, a Senior Scientist at Enzychem Lifesciences will participate in a panel discussing the risks associated with deep space missions and efforts to mitigate and protect astronaut's health.

On the panel, Dr. Park will give an overview of Enzychem's proprietary asset, EC-18, and how it acts as an immunomodulator to potentially restore immune homeostasis and minimize inflammatory immune responses for astronauts during deep space missions. As an oral formulation, it would be optimal for field use and as the risks associated with space exploration beyond low Earth orbit.

"I am excited and honored to participate in the virtual New York Health Forum to discuss the urgent unmet need to develop risk mitigation interventions for space exploration and travel," said Dr. Ji Sun Park, Project Manager and Senior Scientist at Enzychem Lifesciences.

Details of the virtual panel are below:

Title: Investing in Space Next Frontier of Healthcare

Date/Time: March 16, 2021, 12PM - 1PM EST

Panelists:

About Enzychem Lifesciences

Enzychem Lifesciences Corp. is a global pharmaceutical company focused on developing oral small molecule therapies for patients with unmet medical needs in oncology, metabolic diseases, and inflammatory diseases. Founded in 1999, the company's proprietary compound, EC-18 is the subject of two Phase 2 clinical trials for chemoradiation-induced oral mucositis and COVID-19. EC-18 acts as an immunomodulator, facilitating the resolution of inflammation and earlyreturn to homeostasis. For more information, please visit http://www.enzychem.com.

Contact

Investors / Business Development

Ted KimManager of Business Development[emailprotected]

Media

Kimberly HaKKH Advisors[emailprotected]917-291-5744

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Enzychem Lifesciences Selected to Participate at the 15th New York Health Forum: Investing in Space - Next Frontier of Healthcare - PRNewswire

DENVER, March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Multiverse Media andSpace Channel will host an online global premiere of the documentary film "The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O'Neill'' on April 17, 2021, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on spacechannel.com. Alsoavailable onPLEX, RADtv, and the TCL Channels App. The film will be released on VOD April 18, 2021.

View the Event &RSVP:https://spacechannel.com/highfrontier/

"The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O'Neill" tells the untold story of Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill who wrote the 1977 book"The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space," which sparked a grassroots movement to build Earth-like habitats in space in order to solve Earth's greatest crises. The film is told through "Gerry's Kids'' as they affectionately call themselves; his peers, family, and the younger generation who followed that movement and are now leading the modern-day space industry.

Top-Billed Cast: Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill, Tasha O'Neill, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Isaac Asimov, Freeman Dyson, Arthur C. Clarke, Johnny Carson, Dan Rather, Frank White, Rick Tumlinson, Peter Diamandis

View the TrailerHERE

"The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O'Neill" is a Multiverse Media production made in association with Subtractive Inc.The film is executive produced by Dylan Taylor(CEO at Multiverse Media & Voyager Space Holdings,) produced and written by Will Henry (Creative Director at Multiverse Media,) directed by Ryan Stuit(Creative Director at Subtractive Inc,) and produced by Kyle Schember(co-founder and CEO at Subtractive Inc.).

Who was Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill? O'Neill was an American physicist and space activist best known for his 1977 book"The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space." The book details how humans could build rotating space habitats in low Earth orbit using a design he called the "O'Neill Cylinder." The habitat could recreate Earth's gravity and would house millions of people, eventually solving major concerns facing Earth such as hunger, overpopulation, resources, and war. Dr. O'Neill passed in 1992 from leukemia, but forever inspireda generation of space leaders and visionaries known as"Gerry's Kids" who keep his vision alive today.

For more information about the film and event,contact[emailprotected].

The High FrontierOfficial Merchandise: highfrontiermerch.com

Multiverse Media Group LLC is a media company focusing on space exploration, science and technology.

Space Channel is the premier global news and entertainment media platform dedicated to space. From advances in space technology and exploration to commerce, policy and community issues in low Earth orbit, we provide a front-row seat to the latest happenings in the final frontier via news, live coverage, movies and exclusive events.

High Frontier Movie, LLC 2021

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Multiverse Media & Space Channel to Host Online Premiere of the Documentary Film 'The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O'Neill' -...

When South African space engineer Jessie Ndaba and company co-founder Khalid Manjoo named their satellite startup, the choice was easy: Astrofica a hybrid of astronomy and Africa seemed like the perfect fit. The fully Black-owned satellite tech company, based in Cape Town, specializes in assembling, manufacturing and testing satellite systems a lucrative focus of the African space industry. Adriana Marais has set her sights on Mars, in 2015, the South African physicist came a step closer to realizing her dream when she was shortlisted as one of 100 astronaut candidates for the Mars One Project, a private venture to build a permanent settlement on the red planet. Growing up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Ruvimbo Samanga first became interested in space as a young girl. In 2018, she coached a team of law students that made history by becoming the first African entrants to win the prestigious, international Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court competition. Thats when Samanga realized she could combine her two passions into one career and became a space law and policy adviser.

SOURCE:CNN

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Inspiring Female Pioneers Shaping the Future of Space Exploration across Africa and Beyond - iAfrica.com

Early data from the SuperCam instrument aboard NASAs Perseverance rover including the first audio of laser zaps on another planet are intriguing, according to the missions scientists.

This mosaic (upper right) shows a close-up view of the rock target named Yeehgo from the SuperCam instrument on NASAs Perseverance rover on Mars. The component images were taken by SuperCams Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) on March 7, 2021. To be compatible with the rovers software, Yeehgo is an alternative spelling of Yigo, the Navajo word for diligent. The target is 3.325 m (10.9 feet) from the rover. Each of the two images in the mosaic shows a field of view 6.2 cm (2.5 inches) in diameter. Perseverances Navigation Cameras (Nav Cam) and Mastcam-Z instrument also took images of that area at the same time to provide multiple views of the rock target. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / LANL / CNES / CNRS / ASU / MSSS.

I want to extend my sincere thanks and congratulations to our international partners at CNES and the SuperCam team for being a part of this momentous journey with us, said Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters.

SuperCam truly gives our rover eyes to see promising rock samples and ears to hear what it sounds like when the lasers strike them.

This information will be essential when determining which samples to cache and ultimately return to Earth through our groundbreaking Mars Sample Return Campaign, which will be one of the most ambitious feats ever undertaken by humanity.

SuperCam is a suite of instruments composed of three spectrometers, a camera and a microphone.

It is an enhanced version of the ChemCam instrument on NASAs Curiosity rover operating on Mars since 2012.

SuperCam will seek organic compounds that could be related to past life on Mars.

Like ChemCam, it will analyze the chemical composition of rocks by firing a laser at them a technique called laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. It will also detect minerals and any organic molecules by Raman and infrared spectrometry.

It will investigate rocks from a distance of 7 m and the Raman spectrometer from 12 m, while the IR spectrometer and the camera will be capable of seeing out to the horizon.

It is amazing to see SuperCam working so well on Mars, said SuperCam principal investigator Dr. Roger Wiens, a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

When we first dreamed up this instrument eight years ago, we worried that we were being way too ambitious. Now it is up there working like a charm.

The sounds acquired are remarkable quality, said Dr. Naomi Murdoch, a research scientist and lecturer at the ISAE-SUPAERO aerospace engineering school.

Its incredible to think that were going to do science with the first sounds ever recorded on the surface of Mars!

The Perseverance team also released three SuperCam audio files.

Obtained only about 18 hours after landing, when the mast remained stowed on the rover deck, the first file captures the faint sounds of Martian wind.

The researchers also received excellent first datasets from the SuperCams visible and infrared sensor as well as its Raman spectrometer.

This is the first time an instrument has used Raman spectroscopy anywhere other than on Earth, said Dr. Olivier Beyssac, CNRS research director at the Institut de Minralogie, de Physique des Matriaux et de Cosmochimie.

Raman spectroscopy is going to play a crucial role in characterizing minerals to gain deeper insight into the geological conditions under which they formed and to detect potential organic and mineral molecules that might have been formed by living organisms.

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This article is based on text provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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Perseverance Records Sound of Its Rock-Zapping Laser Instrument | Planetary Science, Space Exploration - Sci-News.com

DUBAI, 10th March, 2021 (WAM) -- Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, today confirmed that the success of the first Arab interplanetary space mission of its kind the launch of the UAEs Hope Probe to Mars, underscored the countrys vision to develop the skills of the future, and to invest in young national talent to further strengthen their capabilities in the fields of advanced science, technology, engineering, and scientific research.

During her participation in a session titled Space Exploration in 2021 and Lessons Learnt, on Day 2 of the World Government Summit Dialogues, moderated by Corinne Iozzio, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science magazine, Her Excellency Sarah Al Amiri stated that the UAE is keen to promote science, technology and innovation, and will continue to initiate pioneering projects aimed at transferring knowledge and providing skilled engineers, researchers, and scientists with the necessary expertise to enable them to further advance this vital sector.

She added that the Emirates Mars Mission will place all the data collected by the Hope Probe from the atmosphere of the Red Planet at the disposal of the global scientific community, to facilitate research efforts and contribute to further understanding the planet. In doing so, the country is also set to boost international collaborations in the field of space exploration in the years to come.

Expanding Human Knowledge and Preparing a Generation of ScientistsSarah Al Amiri said: "Space exploration research and space missions enable us to expand the breadth of our knowledge, and better understand the neighboring planets and the solar system, as well as the myriad cosmic phenomena surrounding us. The insights gained through such initiatives simultaneously serve as a window on the past and as a vision for the future, and contribute to improving our daily lives through space industry innovations."

She added that the success of the Hope Probes mission will positively impact national plans over the next decade and help prepare a new cadre of national experts that have contributed to the planning, designing, and executing the launch of Probe over the six years of the project.

The Minister of State for Advanced Technology touched upon the scientific tasks that the Hope Probe will carry out in studying climate phenomena and the seasons on Mars for an entire year, indicating that the data from the Probe will go a long way in enhancing knowledge about this planet through offering a comprehensive picture of weather conditions in the lower layer of Martian atmosphere, as well as of dust particles, clouds, and gases that can explain the absence of hydrogen and oxygen. A bigger purpose of these findings is to inform the scientific community about the challenges of climate change on Earth with a view to overcoming them.

She stressed the importance of building and strengthening partnerships with the private sector in the field of space exploration, and of expanding the application of 4IR technologies to accelerate innovation. She identified two basic areas of cooperation in the aerospace field that could engage the private sector - the first is the provision of a comprehensive and vital ecosystem to enable investors and innovators to contribute to the development of the sector. The second focuses on developing the capabilities and expertise required in various disciplines that are also crucial for the national space sector.

The Minister said that the Emirates Mars Mission team was confident about completing the necessary preparations and ensuring the Hope Probes readiness to enter the capture orbit around the Red Planet, the culmination of years of preparation and millions of working hours. During a blind phase that spanned 27 minutes, the Probe carried out a challenging maneuver as it approached Mars, and reduced its speed from 121,000 kmph to 18,000 kmph, through leveraging the spaceships six reverse propulsion engines in order to enter the capture orbit successfully. The remarkable mission made the UAE only the fifth country to reach Mars and the third in the world to reach the planets orbit on the first attempt.

She emphasised that the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact presented new challenges to the UAEs space ambition prior to the successful launch of the Hope Probe in July 2020. Despite the roadblocks, the EMM team remained confident and resolute and continued to study the shifting data and changing scenarios that included the re-evaluation of the tests taken in order of priority, and the restructuring of operational teams.

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UAE is well on track to expanding space ecosystem, encourages private sector participation: Sarah Al Amiri - WAM EN

This week, we kick off our Perseverance Prize giveaway. Celebrating space exploration even further, we talk about the next frontiers we'd like to see explored. Finally, community members take on a mind-bending theory about alternate universes!

If you haven't already, make sure to register for the Space.com forums and join a community of like minded space enthusiasts! Youll be able to join our launch watch parties and be the first to know about upcoming giveaways, AMAs and more!

Our latest giveaway kicked off this week, offering up a pack of commemorative prizes. One lucky winner will be walking away with:

All you have to do is follow the instructions over at this thread. Remember, following each step makes sure your entry is valid!

Our Community Question this week focused on preparing for space exploration. Suppose you were getting for a journey to a very distant planet, one that would mean a years worth of travel each way. What would you bring with you? The community came up with some fascinating answers:

Software to analyze the now very bright blue-shifted objects ahead of us, which were too dim for Earth scopes. Such relativistic speeds greatly brighten on-coming objects.

Extra Cheetos. - Helio

I would take Elon Musk with me. He would know how and where to navigate, getting us there safely and returning safely. He would make a great space partner. Plus, he'd be cool to hang out with! - Pearl

A very large amount of digital media including music, books and photographs and devices to use it. Toothbrushes with toothpaste to last two plus years and as much toilet paper I can carry. A handball and football if gravity is simulated along with my favorite baseball cap. Also if I could I would take extra fuel. - richWorld

Check out the rest of the thread here.

There arent very many things that can sink you down a rabbit hole the way that thinking about infinity can. However, what if a community of math aficionados and space enthusiasts got together and, say, debated it? How do you debate infinity, you ask?

Here's just a taste of the conversation:

Well infinity is a big number 🙂 Consider the universe size in the BB model, only 46.5 billion light years radius, How Big Is the Universe?

Presently telescopes can only see out to about 13.5 billion light-years from Earth (z ~ 12) so that leaves 33 billion more light-years presently not observable. Now this discussion introduces an infinite number of universes.

How do you plan to observe those infinite numbers of universes from Earth? - Rod

Rod

"How do you plan to observe those infinite numbers of universes from Earth?"

Who says that is possible? - Catastrophe

Head over to this thread for more.

The prevalence of extraterrestrial life.

Shooting asteroids for practice.

Bending the laws of physics.

Continued here:

In the Space.com forums this week: Perseverance prizes, exploration and breaking theories! - Space.com

Learn about pi and the history of Pi Day before exploring some of the ways the number is used at NASA. Then, try the math for yourself in our Pi Day Challenge.

Captured on Oct. 20, 2020, during the OSIRIS-REx missions Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this series of images shows the SamCam imagers field of view as the NASA spacecraft approached and touched asteroid Bennus surface. Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona | Full image and caption

In this illustration, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's Perseverance rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | Full image and caption

This artist's concept shows what Deep Space Station-23, a new antenna dish capable of supporting both radio wave and laser communications, will look like when completed at the Deep Space Network's Goldstone, California, complex. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

Expedition 52 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA shared photos and time-lapse video of a glowing green aurora seen from his vantage point 250 miles up, aboard the International Space Station. This aurora photo was taken on June 26, 2017. Image credit: NASA | Full image and caption

As March 14 approaches, its time to get ready to celebrate Pi Day! Its the annual holiday that pays tribute to the mathematical constant pi the number that results from dividing any circle's circumference by its diameter.

Pi Day comes around only once a year, giving us a reason to chow down on our favorite sweet and savory pies while we appreciate the mathematical marvel that helps NASA explore Earth, the solar system, and beyond. Theres no better way to observe this day than by getting students exploring space right along with NASA by doing the math in our Pi Day Challenge. Keep reading to find out how students and you can put their math mettle to the test and solve real problems faced by NASA scientists and engineers as they explore the cosmos!

Dividing any circles circumference by its diameter gives us pi, which is often rounded to 3.14. However, pi is an irrational number, meaning its decimal representation goes on forever and never repeats. Pi has been calculated to 50 trillion digits, but NASA uses far fewer for space exploration.

Some people may think that a circle has no points. In fact, a circle does have points, and knowing what pi is and how to use it is far from pointless. Pi is used for calculating the area and circumference of circular objects and the volume of shapes like spheres and cylinders. So it's useful for everyone from farmers storing crops in silos to manufacturers of water storage tanks to people who want to find the best value when ordering a pizza. At NASA, we use pi to find the best place to touch down on Mars, study the health of Earth's coral reefs, measure the size of a ring of planetary debris light years away, and lots more.

In the United States, one format to write March 14 is 3.14, which is why we celebrate on that date. In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution officially designating March 14 as Pi Day and encouraging teachers and students to celebrate the day with activities that teach students about pi. And you're in luck, because that's precisely what the NASA Pi Day Challenge is all about.

This year, the NASA Pi Day Challenge offers up four brain-ticklers that will require students to use pi to collect samples from an asteroid, fly a helicopter on Mars for the first time, find efficient ways to talk with distant spacecraft, and study the forces behind Earth's beautiful auroras. Learn more about the science and engineering behind the problems below or click the link below to jump right into the challenge. Be sure to check back on March 15 for the answers to this years challenge.

Take the NASA Pi Day Challenge

Educators, get the lesson here!

NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission has flown to an asteroid and collected a sample of surface material to bring back to Earth. (It will arrive back at Earth in 2023.) The mission is designed to help scientists understand how planets form and add to what we know about near-Earth asteroids, like the one visited by OSIRIS-REx, asteroid Bennu. Launched in 2016, OSIRIS-REx began orbiting Bennu in 2018 and successfully performed its maneuver to retrieve a sample on October 20, 2020. In the Sample Science problem, students use pi to determine how much of the spacecraft's sample-collection device needs to make contact with the surface of Bennu to meet mission requirements for success.

Joining the Perseverance rover on Mars is the first helicopter designed to fly on another planet. Named Ingenuity, the helicopter is a technology demonstration, meaning it's a test to see if a similar device could be used for a future Mars mission. To achieve the first powered flight on another planet, Ingenuity must spin its blades at a rapid rate to generate lift in Mars thin atmosphere. In Twirly Whirly, students use pi to compare the spin rate of Ingenuitys blades to those of a typical helicopter on Earth.

NASA uses radio signals to communicate with spacecraft across the solar system and in interstellar space. As more and more data flows between Earth and these distant spacecraft, NASA needs new technologies to improve how quickly data can be received. One such technology in development is Deep Space Optical Communications, which will use near-infrared light instead of radio waves to transmit data. Near-infrared light, with its higher frequency than radio waves, allows for more data to be transmitted per second. In Signal Solution, students can compare the efficiency of optical communication with radio communication, using pi to crunch the numbers.

Earths magnetic field extends from within the planet to space, and it serves as a protective shield, blocking charged particles from the Sun. Known as the solar wind, these charged particles of helium and hydrogen race from the Sun at hundreds of miles per second. When they reach Earth, they would bombard our planet and orbiting satellites were it not for the magnetic field. Instead, they are deflected, though some particles become trapped by the field and are directed toward the poles, where they interact with the atmosphere, creating auroras. Knowing how Earths magnetic field shifts and how particles interact with the field can help keep satellites in safe orbits. In Force Field, students use pi to calculate how much force a hydrogen atom would experience at different points along Earths magnetic field.

Pi Day is a fun and engaging way to get students thinking like NASA scientists and engineers. By solving the NASA Pi Day Challenge problems below, reading about other ways NASA uses pi, and doing the related activities, students can see first hand how math is an important part of STEM.

Plus, join the conversation using the hashtag #NASAPiDayChallenge on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

TAGS: Pi, Pi Day, NASA Pi Day Challenge, Math, Mars, Perseverance, Ingenuity, Mars Helicopter, OSIRIS-REx, Bennu, Asteroid, Auroras, Earth, Magnetic Field, DSOC, Light Waves, DSN, Deep Space Network, Space Communications

Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When hes not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

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Take Math to Mars and Beyond With NASA's Pi Day Challenge - Teachable Moments | NASA/JPL Edu - NASA/JPL Edu News